


Bootcamp

by TreeFrogSoup



Series: Tanda-Verse [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Dark, Magic School, Verbal Abuse, Verbal Humiliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-11-30 16:26:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11467296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TreeFrogSoup/pseuds/TreeFrogSoup
Summary: Several would be mages enrol in the only post basic-magic class available for them. Every graduate from the course these two teachers run are both secretive and powerful, but "free" isn't a thing in this world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One in twenty people had the minimum reserves of mana. They had mana beyond the mundane volumes, and could cast real constructed spells. They could cast many fireballs with ease , they could teleport, they could summon demons and stop time. They could imbue potions and enchant runes and gemstones. They were able to fight demons and monsters with magic.
> 
> However, if one was to ask if there were one in twenty adult mages, that number would be wrong. From the children who are stolen away to become slaves by other mages, the Fae, Demons or regular humans, the ones who were unlucky and even the ones who cast the wrong spell meant that only one in sixty three adults were free mages, even accounting for the normal human death rate.
> 
> Forever, magic was vast and built from many schools. One could draw mana in near infinite ways, from burning plants to shouting words to drinking fluids of beasts and demons to carving runes.
> 
> The world was fantastical indeed.

> Jasmine Hammerly was not a mage of noble blood. She wasn't talented. She wasn't rich. She was curious, however. Curious mages with no supervision were the dangerous ones.
> 
> That was why, when she turned eighteen and graduated, her teachers applied her for a mandatory advanced group basics tutoring course in Bezemet Academy Under the Tutelage of Sorcerer Amaldai and Sorceress Amaldai. It was to "Instill discipline, teach you more than what you've learned here, guide you to improve your judgement and harness that curiosity into possibly a new Supreme Sorceress."

> She didn't think she could do that. Her mana limit was at seven of Royli's Imperial Fireballs. The average in her class was Thirteen. Almost twice as many as her.
> 
> Still, she saw the massive hill, the Amaldai Dorm reaching into the sky, far above and away from the rest of the academy. Those steps were large, and after five years only then would she descend.
> 
> She made the climb, all of her belongings in her backpack, a standard academy wand on her hand, chained like a decoration on a bangle. It was a basic way to ensure it was always had one on her, in case of emergency.
> 
> She flicked her brunette hair out of her eyes as a gust of wind howled along the stairs and slowly, she began what would be an exhausting ascent.
> 
> The winds at the top were visible, the mist making everything at the peak blurry and unviewable at random. Trees shook and wind howled as she slipped on an ancient step and caught herself with her hands.
> 
> _Was I on time? I was sure she woke up early. Maybe I'm the only one up?_
> 
> She knew two former classmates, Yian and Gertrude were also enrolled. Yian, a foreign student from somewhere far east or even west, and Gertrude, a blonde bookworm who sat away from everyone.
> 
> The staircase led to a platform with a gate on it, something she couldn't see from the angle it was at. The Amaldai Dorm was so far away. Did she have to do this trek every day or was there more to the building?
> 
> A thin, tall and lean man stood at the door with a stand that had a piece of paper on it, and a quill in an ink blot. She slowly reached the top and let out a sigh of exhaustion. She wasn't fit at all. She was a student, not a laborer.
> 
> "Sign," said the bespectacled man as Jasmine approached.
> 
> "Sign?" replied jasmine, looking at the paper quizzically.
> 
> "Sign," the man said, again. With more force.
> 
> "Will you let me in?"
> 
> The man nodded.
> 
> Jasmine grabbed the quill, and wrote her name on the paper. as she did so, the paper burned away to be replaced by a fresh one, and Jasmine felt a sharp pain as the quill grew a spine and pricked her.
> 
> The man shook his head. "Another failure," he muttered, looking at Jasmine with disappointment.
> 
>  _Fail?_  Did she fail the course already? She heard it was tough, but this is unreasonable!
> 
> Jasmine started to protest. "But you said-"
> 
> "I said 'sign'. You asked me if I would let you in, and I gave non-verbal agreement. Your failure was  _assuming_  anything about any situation. What if that was a slavery contract by a fae? You failed because you asked the wrong questions and assumed the answers, you  _stupid_ , stupid girl."
> 
> The man was irritated now, looking at her almost at tears because of such a simple lesson.
> 
> "Just get in. Idiot."
> 
> She almost didn't comprehend that she wasn't kicked off the course. Almost. Still sobbing, she forced the door open and ran into the courtyard, seeing the other eleven students there. They lounged on chairs and benches, each in a different yet tense and somber mood. The courtyard garden may have had plants and a few huts, but it wasn't the Dorms. The other exit was locked, and the door locked from the other side.
> 
> "That's the last one," one boy with a facial tattoo said. "Hey, are you okay?"
> 
> "Let her be," another replied. Yian, Jasmine noted. "I'm guessing that ass in front of the gate tricked you?"
> 
> Jasmine nodded. She can't believe how sad she felt, how angry he was at her.
> 
> It took her a while to calm down. As time went on, everybody stood around the walled off courtyard and waited.
> 
> "When are they gonna get here?" Asked one of the girls.
> 
> As if on queue, the doors further in slammed wide open and the bespectacled man and a taller than him woman walked into the courtyard, faces irritated and partially amused as cold air blasted in behind them.
> 
> The woman spoke with a booming, magically loudened voice. "For the first stage of the entrance examination, all but four have failed miserably. Yian Graves, Annie Starr, Elga de Liou and Kevim Crustfull have been given a boon for your next test."
> 
> As she spoke, the man behind her pulled a table out of his coat, and then stood in font of it.
> 
> "But first, initiation. I am Sorceress Helen Amaldai, and beside me is by husband, Sorcerer Willim Amaldai. Let me be very, very clear. We do not  _teach_  children, or mages. We make sorcerers. By the end of five turns, you will be destined for glory. It will not be worth it. Both my husband and I will tear you apart and put you back together as we see fit. Willim?"  
>  Willim wasn't regal in the way his wife was, but when he stood up from the table, he marched right over to everyone, wand pulled out and a spell already slung with a motion in his offhand.
> 
> _That wasn't Imperial casting!_
> 
> A spark hit one of the boys, knocking him off the bench and making him yelp.
> 
> "Line the fuck up!"
> 
> Not wanting to taste a shock, everyone scrambled into a row, all facing the pair. Electric tendrils trailed against the path from the Sorcerer's wand, sparking and nearly touching a few students.
> 
> Eventually, after circling the class, he dismissed the weapon and picked one of the students at random.
> 
> "You! Bitch!"
> 
> A short, dark skinned girl with elven features jerked up. "M-me!?"
> 
> "No, the other bitch who thinks I'm talking to them when I call them bitch! Yes, you! Why are you here?"
> 
> "To learn discipline in knowing when to use magic!" the dark elf squeaked.
> 
> "No you are not!" Willim snarled, face up against the girl as she started shivering in fear. "You are here to become the fucking best! You are nothing but a fucking worm who can't do anything correctly! Take out your wand!"
> 
> The girl took her wand out of her pocket. Willim looked at her hand, made a disgusted face and took her wand off of her. "Why is it in your pocket!?"
> 
> "I- um- I don't know?"
> 
> "You do not know why your wand is so far out of your person? Have you been possessed? Is there a Fae or Demon inside you?"
> 
> "No! Sir, I just didn't like how inconvenient it was on my wrist."
> 
> "Imperial Casting requires a wand, stupid bitch! If you cannot grab your wand,  _you cannot survive_!"
> 
> He turned away, aiming to throw the wand over the wall.
> 
> "Sir, no!"
> 
> "Axel-droim-u!"
> 
> The wand glowed a purple and sailed far off into the distance.
> 
> "You will do the next test without a wand. Luckily, there are books you can all take with you. These books are sort, have few spells, but with teamwork and wits, you shall  _prevail._ " Sorcerer Willim Amaldai said that without any of the shouting or anger he had earlier. Too late for whoever that girl was, though.
> 
> Sorceress Amaldai had already placed a pile of books on the table. She turned to the group as her husband stood back.
> 
> "You will hate us, but this is your fates, all of you. Ambition and Curiosity is only perverted by slothfulness, cowardice, greed and weakness. You have failed to utilise your own potential for growth under your own control, so for the next five years, you belong to us entirely. Head to toe. you are less than slaves from this moment on. You are raw scrap, waiting for our hands to craft you into tools. Do I make myself clear?"
> 
> Everyone said their agreements with the statement, a little shocked at the incredible strictness never seen before at earlier teaching.
> 
> The Sorceress smiled.
> 
> "You have learned only Imperial Casting. It is useful, but it is hindered on purpose. Left alone, you may have figured about with the complex safeties and killed yourself or worse. We will teach you how to  _not kill_  yourselves, and diversify your magic. Interdimensional Debt, Tantric, Wind Ki, Voiceless Offhand, Dragonsong, Sirensong, Herbal Witch, Slaveomancy, Kinset Dwarf Enchanting. You will Master the basics of these within five years. All of you."
> 
> She set down the last book on the table, and pulled out a dozen leather strips.
> 
> "Put these on your necks. They are Monitoring Collars. They will track your vitals, administer corrections and rewards, facilitate communication, and send emergency broadcasts. These are your lifelines within the dorms. You cannot live without them. You  _will_  thank us for giving you these collars, maybe not now but in the future yes."
> 
> She handed a strap to each student, one by one. Jasmine felt hers, how silky it was. It had no clasp, but as it touched her neck she felt it move, wrap around her like a constrictor, tight enough to be felt as she reached around and saw no seams. The thing was one solid piece now.
> 
> "Everyone but Graves, Crustfull, Starr and de Liou give us your wands. They will be transported to your dorms. You can make it through the main path within three days, where you will then be fully initiated. Take three books with you. You fail if I have to find you. you don't want to fail a second time. Leave."
> 
> Everyone wordlessly rushed over to the books after handing Willim Amaldai their wands with exception to the four "passes", Jasmine included. She picked up a few books, looked through the pages and saw the spells were all different. Different marking systems, different visual guides, different casting words. Most of the spells weren't even using circles.
> 
> She grabbed three at random and rushed out after Kevim, the elf and a third girl.
> 
> The cold bit her skin as she stepped into the blizzard after them and her shouts soon became nothing as the wind picked up. She stumbled and fought along the path as Kevim, The elf and the third girl disappeared from view, even though they may only be a dozen feet away.
> 
> This is insane, she thought. When does the wind end?
> 
> Eventually it cleared up, but she knew something was up. The path was so long, longer than it seemed at the courtyard. Was she in a Fae circle? Was this the test?
> 
> She stepped onto the heavily snowed mountaintop forest, feeling for the cobble path. It was still there. She was cold though, and the wind was over. Three days went through her mind. Survive. Was she supposed to live off the land, using the spellbooks? What did the spells do anyways? Where was everybody?
> 
> A loud rumbling gut made her change track. She needed to eat, and fast. She just didn't know what to do. Maybe if she read the books, she'd have an idea.
> 
> She flipped through the first, and began to read.


	2. 2

  
Each of the three books were unlabelled on the covers. They were short books with only a dozen or so pages each, mostly in other spell languages. The fonts and handwriting were remarkably different from page to page, telling Jasmine that these books were assembled by mashing together older tomes and grimiores, possibly as a method of trying to keep the knowledge within.

Many of the spells required resources, like her academy wand or a chicken to sacrifice or even some candles. Some didn't require that, but the spells were totally unlike the construction that Imperial Casting requires. No safety runes or pre-enchanted wands were required for an interesting gardening spell that seemed to generate a miniature sun over center of an area. Something about "Maximizing the volume of edible plants and their light" was scrawled on the handwritten spell, telling Jasmine that it was included for her to find food.

If she could cast the spell, that is.

She read a little bit more of the page, looking for any hints as to how to cast the unknown language correctly. Imperial Casting had a unique quirk of requiring the spell formula to be imaged in your head while using both the want casting motions and the casting chant. Failure to do so usually meant the spell simply failed to cast. This spell seemed to require only an image of the effect, and a much more complex casting chant.

It wouldn't hurt to try. Jasmine stood up, hid under a tree and held her hand out, imagining what a small ball of light would look like.  
"Kerer matima meram kikoti koim wa sammet, Famet, Toimet."

She waited, and saw the faint outline of the sun as she continued to channel her mana into keeping the spell. It hovered and grew to about the size of her head, then collapsed in a waft of heat. A failure, but not bad for a first try. She worried herself of the idea of the sun growing beyond her control, or not actually casting it at all.

It wasn't long before her spot a few feet away from the snow covered path would be disturbed. Somebody was trudging along the path to the dorms, eating a fruit.

Jasmine wasn't good at remembering her former academy students, so she turned back to her task of finding food. A pang of fear hit her just then.

_What if I was wasting time?_

The figure got closer to Jasmine and she saw they were male, at the very least. The person in question was holding out their hand, a brilliant bright blue glow illuminating the cobblestone beneath the snow, showing the boy where to go on the path. His other hand was munching on a fruit, and he had his tomes tied to his belt.

"Hey!" Jasmine shouted at the boy, stumbling through snow towards him.

She then froze, wondering what the hell she was doing. She didn't know this person, and she was already busy!

"You're Jasmine," The boy replied while decasting his spell. The light shining below the snow faded away as he dropped his arm. "Why aren't you going on ahead?"

"I um, I didn't eat breakfast."

"I see," the fellow student said, idly rubbing the tight collar on him. "You tried looking? I've been through my tomes and it seems that they are kitted towards survival, even if casting them can be an... issue."

"I tried a spell that looks for edible plants and showers them in sunlight," said Jasmine, "But I think I didn't do it right. It just... went out."

"I see. The name is Ryan da Maru."

Ryan put his hand over the stones and made a series of gestures. Jasmine noted that it wasn't just his hand - his whole body was posed, almost as if he was fencing, or duelling. One quick swing of his elbow lit up the ground in a massive blue light, which faded as Ryan pointed at the ground. The cobble path.

A small blue circle floated down and struck the stone underneath, lighting it once again.

"I think we should be making more ground first, Jasmine. I don't want for us to take too long, or require Willim's help."

A growl of Jasmine's stomach protested the suggestion. She looked at the Fruit longingly, and Ryan sighed as he handed it too her.

"Here, Blue Gemjelly."

With ample hesitation, Jasmine accepted the fruit. Gemjelly? She's never heard of that before.

She took a slow bite, and the soft, blue fruit practically melted and folded in her mouth.

It tasted sweet, but different from other sweets. Not entirely sugary, but rather watered down.

A second bite made her gasp as she pulled out a seed that looked just like the jelly like fruit, but partially translucent.

"That's the gem. Come on, we have a while to go."

Jasmine slowly ate the fruit, pocketing the seeds as she did so, and avoiding where Ryan had eaten. As they progressed, the strange lack of blizzard that there was before made the pair tense for another and relieved at their luck. Soon enough, the path moved around large rocks, and suddenly Ryan stopped, decasting his spell again.

"Ryan?" Jasmine asked, moving to see what he was looking at, what was obscured by the wind carved stone.

Beyond the snow, atop the iced over mountain, meters away from a chilly, snow covered path was a sand dune. Several sand dunes. The school was still so far away, almost fixed on the horizon. It would have to be magic. That's the only explanation for the desert before them.

_We need water,_  Jasmine thought.  _Survival, It isn't just cold but heat as well. That means there must be more, right?_

"That explains the water spell," Ryan murmured to himself.

He slowly tested the sand, and walked into the desert, stopping after a few steps.

"It's warm," he stated, turning to Jasmine and pulling out a tome from his belt. "Hey, we should review the spells we have. See what we can do."

"That's a good idea," Jasmine said. She'd only found one spell she's able to perform so far, which was a shame for her. She was thankful Ryan appeared when he did, really.

Ryan sat down on the sand and opened the tome he pulled out, flicking through the pages. "I didn't get why most of these spells were unusable, or at least I didn't when I was browsing. I think after seven people set off already, the rest of us realised that there were a ton of books for a reason. Some of them were better than the others."

He opened up to a page and showed a simple spell. No need for wands or speaking at all, just double hand gestures. "This book has about six spells I think I can use. I think we should take our time and practice right here."

Jasmine opened one of her own tomes, the one where she got the sun spell from. "I just used the first spell I could find that I could cast."

She gave a nervous smile as Ryan leaned over to her book, raising an eyebrow.

"I see what you mean," Ryan admits, flipping to a previous page. "Candles, Live Oilasko to sacrifice... Pretty strange spells. Hey, look, this one is pretty interesting for gardening. Fuse two plants into one. I'm not sure how to keep giving it mana, though."

He looked over at different spells, sometimes frowning, sometimes nodding his head. Every now and then, he make a small comment, dismissing the spell for reasons like "needs something", "too risky" or "useless here". Eventually, he found something that he was satisfied with, and handed it to Jasmine. The student mage took back her book and read the name of the spell. "Eternal cloth?" her confused expression faded when she saw the diagram of what the spell does.

"Oh, it makes napkins the size of quilts and stuff! Why?"

"Portable tent. Cast a spell, sleep easy at night, no extra storage needed." Ryan frowned at a thought. "Mana may attract predators, though."

"That's not good," Jasmine worried, rubbing her collar. "what if we get attacked? What kinds of monsters do you think they have here?"

Ryan looked out at the desert, still flipping through Jasmine's tome. "I don't think we'll be hurt too badly. Worst case, we fail the test, I think. As long as you have some spell to discourage monsters in your tomes, we may be fine."

Both Ryan and Jasmine spent an hour looking through their books, listing and sharing the spells they had. They tried their hardest to memorize the casting methods and what they were for as they did so. After Ryan taught Jasmine the water summoning spell he had, they both began to make the trek to the Academy Dorm.

_The sun was too hot and too close to this stupid desert,_  Jasmine thought.  _Way too close. if that waterball spell wasn't limited in how many times a day you could cast it, I'd be drenched right now._

Still, she persisted a few steps behind Ryan, keeping at the agonizing pace as the sun slowly began to set. It only started to meaningfully reach the horizon when they both decided to camp for the night on a somewhat flat area of land. The sun set, and by using the cloth expansion spell, the waterball spell, a fire starting spell on some trees from the mountain path and basic human ingenuity, they had a camp set up.

Still, they both woke up elsewhere. they were both inside a dark room that was almost entirely empty except for both Sorceress and Sorcerer Amaldai in chairs, a metal door opposite. On the floor was a massive circular array, and both Amaldai's were seated, frowning and shaking their heads at the students pulled to them via the remote summoning circle.

Ryan shot up as Jasmine slowly stumbled to her feet, a little faint. The pair both slowly gathered attention as it seemed their teachers were about to tell them something.

"Ryan and Jasmine," Sorceress Helen frowned. "You showed great teamwork, and decent curiosity and ease of learning new spell languages. Sadly, that does not translate to safety. By failing to maintain your camp, Desert Nightwasps were able to approach and attack you. If not for us, you may both have been killed."

She turned to Jasmine.

"By not preparing for the journey, you made Ryan fail. He had to cover your flaws. However, your willingness to apply teamwork with others and your understanding of magic Has been excellent. You are - sadly - the second lowest ranked student as of the two initiation tests."

With a disappointed look, Jasmine stared at the floor rather than Helen and Willim's stern gazes as they both addressed Ryan, the boy beside her.

"Ryan Roi, your skills in many areas was undone easily by a lack of planning. A simple cycle of shifts may have saved you. Allying with any of the others at the start may have given you a much better team than the one whimsically formed. You are in tenth place. I assure you you do not want to be any lower than sixth place in our rankings, but you will be given opportunities to gain favour. You  _will_  use them, I assure you."

With that, she opened the door to the Amaldai Dorm.

"You will sleep in temporary quarters down the hall, and I shall orientate you as the rest of the students arrive in two days."

Shamefully, achingly, Jasmine walked into the hallway after Ryan and clenched her fists. Two failures already, and she hadn't even walked into the entrance.

 


End file.
